Minnesota Phoenix Quotes

Minnesota Coach Suzie McConnell Serio:
"It's a good win. Phoenix is a team that we expected to come in with a lot of energy, coming off a tough loss. We needed to capitalize on the situation of them coming off a back-to-back... But tonight was all about us -- us getting back our confidence and where we want to be."

"We got great minutes from a number of people, and contributions from players who came in off the bench. I thought Amanda Lassiter was a spark off the bench, and defensively came in with a lot of energy and hit a couple of key shots. Her 'three' in the first half was key in a run. Even her little pull-up, it answered a run that Phoenix was making."

"Phoenix is a dangerous team. They have so many weapons, especially the way they can shoot the ball from the three-point line. That's something that they do not shy away from. They shot 23 three-pointers tonight, and they're very capable of hitting them."

"The stat line that was the area of emphasis was giving up 15 offensive rebounds. Playing every other day, that's something that is a concern of ours down the stretch -- not finishing on defense."

"We are a much better team when we can get out and run. We have post players who can run the floor -- with Ohlde, with Tamika, even Stacey when she plays the '4' -- just really getting after it. We're just trying to be more consistent with getting longer outlets with our point guards and trying to push it up -- not necessarily looking always to score in transition, but it just gives us a better tempo into our offense. We're really trying to emphasize that."

"I thought Kristi really did a good job tonight. It was probably her best game since she's been here -- just being the floor leader, running the show, being aggressive, attacking, getting into the paint. Even defensively, she was communicating out there. She just really was very solid in her performance tonight. That's what we'll need from her."

"It was a tough road trip for Nicole. She really struggled her last two games, and teams tend to key on her. Tonight she was able to get baskets in transition, she was able to put the ball on the floor and make moves -- and that's when she's at her best. She was sometimes our press-breaker, putting the ball on the floor. She really did a good job tonight. We got great performances from a lot of people, and Ohlde was definitely one of them."

"We have an unselfish team. At halftime, we had 12 baskets and 10 of them were on assists. We ended up with 18 assists. This is when we are at our best: When players are moving the ball, when we're unselfish, when we're making extra passes."

Minnesota Center Nicole Ohlde:
"Any time you're struggling a little bit, searching for the next win, it's definitely frustrating. That's kind of how we felt last week with the three road games, but we knew that we'd come out and just be aggressive and get this win... It's something we always try to do. We have people that can get out push the ball, and especially with [Phoenix] coming off the back-to-back, I think it's something we did try to take advantage of."

"It was a good for us, coming off that road trip and trying to feel good about ourselves. I mean, there are a lot of things... I think we had 18 turnovers and they had 15 offensive rebounds, so there is still a lot that wasn't good with this game, but a lot of things also went well for us."

"[The plan] was to go inside-out and reverse the ball, just get the ball moving, and that's just the way the game kind of worked. We got some easy shots on the inside. Our guards were penetrating -- getting us the ball where we need it, getting us open on screens -- so it just kind of worked out that way."

Minnesota Guard Katie Smith:
"When we played on Saturday [at Los Angeles], we started out the game the well. I don't think fatigue was a factor. Sometimes I think back-to-backs are fine. You just have to mentally refocus and forget the night before, and think about what you need to get done."

"We're a team that's trying to find our way right now and we had two straight losses. But we also had ourselves a little winning streak [before] and we're at home, so you take advantage of those opportunities... We started [the road trip] out well with the win, then we had two disappointing losses. It wasn't necessarily losing the games, just how we played and how we lost. But it's a different day and a different team, and there's a lot more to go and we're still in the hunt to do some things here the rest of the season."

"It's great to get a win. You need whatever wins you can, but this is something where you can't let it fool you. We've got to come back out and play even better on Friday night to get a 'W'... Indiana has beaten people and it's at their place, so this game coming up is going to be a totally different ballgame than we saw tonight."

Phoenix Coach Carrie Graf:
"We had reasonable shots. A few tough ones, but I think it was pretty evident that we were on the second of a back-to-back and we didn't have a shootaround. We didn't have our legs in our shots, and we didn't have a chance to shoot around."

"It's a setback. We knew it would always be tough. Certainly, 3-9 isn't where we wanted to be right now, but we can't change that now. What we've got to do is get back home and get some wins. We have a few more on the road coming up, but we've got to get ourselves through to the All-Star Break."

"Hopefully this doesn't shake our confidence too much that we stick to our guns. We've got some talent; we can put a little run together. Eleven of 14 on the road to start the season is always a hell trip."

Phoenix Guard Diana Taurasi:
"We had a tough night shooting the basketball… That's about it. We got shots we usually make, and tonight for some reason -- maybe coming off of a back-to-back -- we just didn't knock them down."

"We won't use (the schedule) as an excuse, but it definitely takes a toll on your body. That long stretch is over, and now we have to go home and regroup... We had high hopes, and things have just not gone well on the road. Sometimes that just happens to a team, but we will be okay."